Eagles start with win

STOCKTON - The McNair High girls basketball team picked up the 2009 Tri-City Athletic League season where it left off in 2008, with a win over Edison.

Stephen Roberson

STOCKTON - The McNair High girls basketball team picked up the 2009 Tri-City Athletic League season where it left off in 2008, with a win over Edison.

Briana Vaden led the Eagles with 12 points and three steals in a 51-38 win over the Vikings in the league opener for both teams. The Eagles opened TCAL play with a victory for the first time in the program's three-year varsity history.

Wade, who also had seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals, said this season's team is motivated by the pursuit of its first playoff berth.

"Last year, we didn't play with much hustle or heart," she said. "This year, we're determined to make the playoffs."

Eagles coach Anthony Matthews said having a full offseason to work with his players has allowed McNair to come into this season prepared. Matthews was hired about a month before last season started, and the lack of summer workouts proved costly.

While they started the season hot, winning their first five games and seven of their first eight, the Eagles fizzled down the stretch and finished 14-14 overall and 2-8 in the league.

Both wins were over Edison.

"We were able to implement more things, and they have a better understanding of what we're doing," Matthews said. "None of these kids had played any organized basketball before I got here. We had good athletes, but we didn't have anyone with any basketball intelligence.

"We gave them enough games, doing the same things over and over, and now they're a lot more comfortable."

Edison coach Chet Reed said playing with heart, something Wade credited for the Eagles' turnaround, has hurt his team.

"We haven't been playing hard this year, and we haven't been playing smart," Reed said. "Tonight, at times, we played hard, but we didn't play with heart. The margin of victory, to me, was that we didn't play with our heads."

McNair jumped out to a 12-3 lead on the first of Tran's three 3-pointers with 2:07 left in the first quarter. After the Vikings cut the deficit to 21-17, the Eagles finished the first half on a 9-2 run for a 30-19 halftime lead.